Journals of the
Lewis & Clark Expedition

1. Probably Jean Pierre Chouteau. One of the letters was probably a letter of introduction for Chouteau dated May 2; internal evidence suggests that Clark wrote from a draft by Lewis. Clark to William Croghan, May 2, 1804, Jackson (LLC), 1:178–79 and headnote. (back)

2. Manuel Lisa, of Spanish descent, was already a fur trader on the Missouri; within a few years after the return of Lewis and Clark he became the most famous and enterprising of the pioneers of the trade on the upper Missouri before the War of 1812. By 1807 his Missouri Fur Company had a post on the Yellowstone, and by 1810 his men were established at the Three Forks of the Missouri. Several former members of the expedition, including George Drouillard, John Potts, Peter Weiser, and John Colter, worked for him; the first two lost their lives in his service. Lewis apparently had difficulties with Lisa in St. Louis during this winter of 1803–4 and disliked him intensely, as did many others. Nonetheless, within a few years, Clark and Lewis's brother Reuben became Lisa's partners in the Missouri Fur Company. During the War of 1812 he rendered valuable service to the United States by keeping the upper Missouri Indians at peace with the Americans. Oglesby; Lewis to Clark, May 6, 1804, Jackson (LLC), 1:179–80 and n. 2. (back)

3. See Lewis to Clark, May 2, 1804, Jackson (LLC), 1:177–78. (back)